Google Maps lands tourists in trouble
Following directions from Google Maps, two German tourists, Philipp Maier and Marcel Schoene, ended up lost in the Australian outback. While driving from Cairns to Bamaga, they came upon an isolated dirt road that took them into a national park that was off-limits to the general public.
Things got worse with directions from Google maps here
After traveling 37 miles on the deserted track, their car stuck in the mud. They had to leave their car and hike for more than a week to get to safety because they had no cell service and few supplies. Throughout their ordeal, they had to deal with severe weather, including thunderstorms and intense heat. They also came across a river that was home to crocodiles.
They ran into trouble when their car got stuck after sixty kilometers. They made an attempt to continue on foot but quickly realized they were in a dangerous situation.
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The German travelers said…
“I feel like in a movie, like in a bad movie, but it had a happy ending,” Maier said.
“We tried to build a shelter. But that didn’t work really well,” Maier said.
“So we slept under the sky. It was raining the whole time, but it was okay.”
They walked back to the town of Coen for a week. They eventually made it to the small township and went to ask for help. “Once they realised they were being led up a dry gully, they pulled back and stayed with the vehicle as long as they could before making the decision to walk out,” Queensland Parks and Wildlife ranger Roger James said.
In the last creek they crossed, Maier mentioned there was a crocodile. A Google representative said that the company is happy that the German tourists are safe and that they are looking into the matter.
